‘I told a 9-year-old the truth about Elf on the Shelf – now his mum is furious’

The child had been asking his teacher nervously where the mysterious elves came from but after hearing the truth one mum has fired back at the teacher and said it wasn’t her place to say anything

With Christmas just over a week away, many parents are getting their kids in the festive spirit through writing Santa lists or buying them Elf on the Shelf toys to play with. But one teacher has faced a huge backlash from a mum of a student for revealing a little too much about where the mischievous elf toys come from as it has upset her child.

Taking to Reddit, the teacher, who remained anonymous, explained that one of her pupils had been nervously asking her where the elf toys came from as he had not received one yet. But when the young kid heard the truth about the toys he spread the news around the class and one mum was not happy with what was said.

In the post, the teacher explained: “I’m a private tutor and teach a fourth grader who has a lot of anxiety.

“He randomly brought up Elf on the Shelf and started frantically asking me where it came from and if I had one. I told him I didn’t have one and he told me he didn’t but he didn’t know why because he ‘celebrates Christmas.'”

The woman went onto tell the child that different families have different traditions so maybe he did not have one as it was not his family’s tradition – but the questions did not end there.

She said: “He asked me where the elf came from and I told him families bought the doll at the store.

“He looked shocked and a friend told him the elf was real and came when you believed in Santa. I don’t have kids so I didn’t realize [sic] that kids, especially 9-10 years old, thought it was real.

“Later he told kids at school that the elf came from the store and one of the kids called his mom [sic]. Now his mom [sic] is mad at me and says it wasn’t my place to tell him the truth. I was only trying to make him feel less anxious.”

In response, many have supported the teacher and offered some advice for when kids ask difficult questions in the future.

One person wrote: “You need to ask your parents is an important phrase for you to learn.”

While another wrote: “If the kid is asking it was good of you to explain especially to ease his anxiety.”

Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email [email protected].